We recently compiled a list of the 20 High Growth Mega Cap Stocks You Can Buy And Hold For Next 5 Years. In this article, we are going to take a look at where AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) stands against the other high growth mega cap stocks.
Exactly 5 years ago, the world struggled to deal with a black swan event: the COVID-19 pandemic. There was so much uncertainty that people didn’t even know if they’d be alive in the next few weeks, let alone figure out where the market was heading. Anyone who invested in the S&P 5 years ago would have gained 83%. If you had bought at the exact bottom, you’d have gained twice that amount.
What the above proves is that the present isn’t necessarily an indicator of what the future holds. All companies that had their workflows disrupted have recovered, some more than others. Some companies have strengthened their supply chains. Others have improved their work-from-home capabilities. Industries like airlines and restaurants have modified their business models to cater to the new dynamics.
These companies have been able to deal with the changing dynamics because of their financial strength and innovation. A company’s past performance and its finances give a good idea of whether it will be able to survive bad times. That’s why when we look at the best mega-cap stocks to hold for the next 5 years, we look at how well they have grown in the last 5 years.
To come up with our list of top 20 mega-cap stocks to hold for the next 5 years, we considered stocks with a market cap of at least $200 billion and a 5-year sales growth rate of at least 10%.
A pharmacy worker distributing prescription medicines to patientsreceiving treatment for oncology, cardiovascular, renal, metabolism and respiratory diseases.
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is a biopharmaceutical company that explores, develops, manufactures, and commercializes prescription medicines. It supplies its products and services to specialty and primary care physicians. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) distributes its products and services through local representative offices and distributors. The company has grown its revenue by 17.77% over the last 5 years.
UBS recently upgraded AstraZeneca from neutral to buy on improving growth prospects:
We like the diversified catalyst path for AZN, no longer dominated by Dato-DXd.
Dato DXd is a treatment for advanced-stage breast cancer and with its approval in January, the company continues to strengthen its portfolio of FDA-approved drugs. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) estimated annual sales of $5 billion with this particular treatment and that seems to be on target. The company can now focus on the seven high-value drugs it plans to get to the market in 2025. Investors can expect multiple catalysts throughout the year, but due to the nature of drug trials, volatility is expected.
Overall AZN ranks 14th on our list of the high growth mega cap stocks you can buy and hold for the next 5 years. While we acknowledge the potential of AZN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as AZN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
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